USAID Hands Over 12.7 Hectares of Clean Land at Da Nang International Airport

Publish date 11-08-2017 14:30

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On 9 August, representatives of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense and the Air Defence-Air Force Command (ADAFC) formally signed an agreement to hand over 12.7 hectares of remediated land at the Da Nang International Airport to the control of the Ministry of Transport.

The signing ceremony

This is the second portion of land to be turned over for new development as part of the expansion of the Da Nang International Airport, whilst USAID and the Ministry of National Defence continue their collaboration to clean up dioxin contaminated soil and sediment at the site of the former Da Nang US Air Base.

Addressing at the ceremony, Lt. General Pham Ngoc Minh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff under the Viet Nam People’s Army emphasised that the handover of land for the second phase of the project commencing marked close co-operation between Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense and USAID for several years in cleaning up dioxin contamination at the airport.

He added that the project, which completed its first phase in May last year, had handed over a 5.97ha plot for building runways and parking lots at the airport in preparation for the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Week, which will take place in Da Nang this November.

Launched in August 2012, the "Environmental Remediation of Dioxin Contamination at Da Nang Airport" project has successfully treated over 94,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil and sediment and is expected to fully complete in early 2018 when all potential health risks associated from dioxin exposure will be eliminated from the site. This event marks an important milestone in the bilateral relationship between the governments of the United States and Viet Nam and will result in a cleaner, safer environment for the people of Da Nang.